The Killing Edge (10 page)

“Police emergency, Officer Hawkins.”

“L.C. Converse, tell Chief Barnes that …”

A hand reached past her cheek and clicked down the extension. The phone was taken from her hand and placed back on the hook.

“You shouldn't have done that, L.C.,” he said in a low voice.

Chapter Six

The last time she had been tied to a chair was during a game of cowboys and Indians when she was eight years old, and she hadn't liked it then either.

“I don't suppose you'd take my word?”

“Nope.”

“You act like your foot still hurts.”

“I'll get by. I hope you don't mind if I borrow a few things?”

“I do.”

“I'll return them when everything is straightened out.” He looped a belt around her feet and then ran the loose end of rope from her hands through the loop and pulled until she gave a short grunt. He limped through the apartment gathering items as he opened and closed drawers. He counted the money from her wallet. “Fourteen dollars.”

“I never carry much cash.”

He stuffed the bills in his pocket along with a gasoline credit card and car keys. He found her father's service revolver in the bureau drawer and tucked it in the waistband of his pants.

“Raleigh, please calm down and look at things rationally. To begin with, my car is about as obvious as a Sherman tank. The fourteen dollars won't go far, and if you use the credit card you'll leave a trail anyone could follow. And there aren't any bullets for the gun.”

“I didn't kill her. I don't know if it was one of her admirers, or someone who broke in the house and attacked her, but I'm going to find out.”

“What happened to the missing hour? Will says he definitely places you in the house shortly after eight, but you never called for help until nine.”

He paused thoughtfully in the center of the living room. “When I first saw her lying there I wanted her to be dead. It solved so many problems. We had already discussed divorce, it was only a question of time. I wanted her dead, and that filled me with guilt, as if I really had killed her. I was confused and walked through the house trying to put things together, as if by overcoming my desire for her death I could bring her back to life. Can you understand that?”

“I think so. I promise you that Will will continue the investigation.”

“His mind is made up. After my running away, and the other lies, he'll never believe a word I say.”

“What about me?”

“I'll leave a note on the superintendent's door to open the apartment at six.”

“I still think you're making a mistake.”

He stopped at the door to turn and smile. “Thanks, L.C.”

“Sure.”

She sat staring at the blank wall after he shut the door. It was going to be a long day. The wall was really quite bleak. She had never put any time or thought into decorating the apartment, and now had a full six or seven hours to consider the problem in depth. She'd paint the wall in a bright primary color to provide contrast, and then buy some good Wyeth prints. The long windows overlooking the water were the most spectacular aspect of the room and could be more effectively utilized.

The voices from outside, below the window, were dim distant sounds that almost merged into the ordinary background noise of the apartment complex. If it were spring she would have automatically assumed they were the grounds crew cleaning and preparing the pool for warm weather.

There was two feet of snow behind the building.

She slid the light chair across the room toward the large window to see three men standing in the snow three floors below. Raleigh was almost directly below the window by the edge of the ice-covered swimming pool. He glanced from side to side like a furtive animal.

Will had come around the right corner of the building and was walking slowly toward Raleigh. He held his arms up and away from his body and was obviously saying something in low tones that were unintelligible from this distance.

Officer Dave August, holding a pump shotgun across his body, had come from the left, and was crouching forward as he brought the gun up to aiming position.

“Leave me the hell alone,” Raleigh's voice carried through the wind.

Will stopped and waved Dave August back. Once again he began to move slowly toward the cornered man.

Raleigh reached under his jacket and pulled out the service revolver. He held it by the barrel a moment and then threw it toward the frozen pool.

The blast of the shotgun spun Raleigh in a complete circle and crumpled him into the snow against the side of the building.

L.C. moaned and pressed her forehead against the cold window glass.

Will ran forward, knelt for a moment beside the fallen man, and then stood slowly. He walked deliberately toward the officer holding the rifle, took it from his hands, and then swung his fist upward in a blow that caught Dave August under the chin.

Someone was whimpering in child-like cries. It was a plaintive sound, filled with the horror of things that shouldn't have been seen. Windows. She was always by windows as men destroyed each other. L.C. cried for all four dead men.

Large hands undid the belt around her feet. Her arms swung forward as the rope fell away.

“Are you all right?”

She blinked up at the concerned face hovering over her. “Is he dead?”

“Yes. I've put that stupid son-of-a-bitch August on indefinite suspension. Raleigh wasn't going to do anything. There was no reason to shoot.”

He pulled her to her feet and she cried into the hollow of his shoulder. “He didn't have to die, Will. It doesn't make any sense.”

“I know. It's one of those things, an inexperienced officer, tension, a wrong move …”

She forced herself to look out the window. A red stain on the snow was the only indication of what had happened. She shivered and felt her body tighten. A window to the past opened, her father stepped from his car onto the sun-splashed macadam, a desperate young man ran from the station office.…

She stiffened as Will put his arms around her. “Are you sure you're all right?”

“Yes. I think I'd like to be left alone.”

“Perhaps the doctor …”

“No, I'm all right. How did you know he was here?”

“An educated guess. The man on the desk played back your call to the emergency number. He knew you always called me on the regular line and notified me out at the search site. You'd been out there a while ago. It didn't take much to figure out what might have happened.”

“Too bad for Raleigh, isn't it?”

“Don't blame yourself.”

“What's the saying? With friends like me, who needs enemies.”

“It was foolish for him to have run in the first place. There's always the risk that this would happen.”

“He didn't make love to his wife that day,” she said abruptly.

Will shook his head. “It's over, L.C. Over, finished, done, kaput. How about dinner tonight?”

“Oh, God.” She backed away as he tried to kiss her.

“I promise there'll be no interruptions this time.”

“You aren't for real. One of your men just shot a man under my window, and all you can think about is going to bed.”

“I couldn't exist if I didn't shut out certain things. I'll fill out the reports, hang Dave August from the yardarm, and mark it down as an unfortunate incident. That's all I can do.”

“No it isn't. You can find out who killed Mauve Bridger.”

“Damn it all! I did.”

“The man you thought did it is dead.”

“A lot of people are dead.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

“I had a case. The prosecutor thought I had a case, and a jury would have convicted Raleigh.”

“And they'd be wrong.”

His voice softened. “I'm sorry, L.C. You've been through a hell of a ordeal, and what happened to Raleigh was a senseless thing.”

“I'm sick of killings. That's what happened to my father and Frank.”

“It's hardly the same.”

“Yes it is. If you leave it like it is, it's senseless. Raleigh died for nothing.”

“You're very upset now and …”

“Damn right I am!”

“We can't live with our ghosts, Laura. I learned that, I've accepted that, and I think it's time you did also.”

“Oh, go write speeding tickets or something.”

His eyes clouded as he stepped away from her. “I'll need a statement.”

“I thought you would. I'll be down later.”

“Of course, L.C. Later.” He looked at her for a long moment and then left the apartment.

She took two hesitant steps toward the door and stopped. She was numb and rigid until she sank onto the floor and began to cry again, this time for the dead and the living.

Herb Strickland answered his phone immediately. “I heard what happened. Terrible, just terrible.”

“I think it's time that the bank bought me a big lunch.”

She sensed the hesitancy in his voice. “Of course, L.C. I did have an appointment, but it can be canceled.”

“I'll meet you at the Yacht Club dining room in half an hour.”

“Anything you say.”

L.C. plunked the olive in her martini and looked up at the mural over the Yacht Club bar. It depicted, in rather primitive fashion, the founding of the city. Stalwart colonials stood hip deep in water at the point. They held lanterns over their heads to lure unsuspecting ships toward the reef and subsequent plunder.

“Dry enough for you, Miss Converse?”

She looked up to register a 75 Volks in the red bartender's jacket. “Fine, Steve.”

Herb Strickland reached over her shoulder and picked up the check. “I've reserved a table.”

“Would you mind if we sat at the bar a moment?”

“'Course not.” He slid onto the stool next to her and ordered a double vodka on the rocks. “I just got off the phone with Toby in Florida. Told her what happened to Raleigh and how plucky you were. Plucky's the word, L.C. Any woman that can go through what you did this morning, and still have the courage to want to discuss loan paper … that's pluck.”

“I want to talk about Raleigh.”

“Yes, arrangements will have to be made. We'll try and locate other members of the family, but the bank can take care of everything. I guarantee that it will be a fine double service, L.C. We will not spare expense.”

At that moment, L.C. realized she wanted a second martini—quickly. “That's thoughtful Herb, although it's not exactly what I had in mind. I don't think Raleigh did it.”

“Is that what Will thinks?”

“No, but it's the reason I want you to tell me about the Bridgers. You were their neighbor, co-worker, and ultimately Raleigh's boss.”

“I see.” Herb said pensively. “You know, L.C., there's nothing in this world that would please me more than to find out that Raleigh did not kill his wife. It would remove a certain stigma from the bank. To say the least, it's not exactly the best public relations in the world to have a senior officer of the bank kill his wife. Anything at all I can do to help, and I'm sure if she were here, Toby would feel the same.”

“Tell me all you know about them.”

“Well, let me think about it. I told you there were rumors. But then again, for an attractive couple like the Bridgers who moved in a fast set, that's not unusual.”

“What sort of rumors?”

“A fast set, you know, late parties, a couple of divorced couples in the group. Nothing you can really put your finger on, things that people in Lantern City like to gossip about.”

“Were any particular names mentioned?”

“Not that I can recall.” Herb ordered another drink as L.C. placed the palm of her hand across the rim of her glass: “I'm not your best source of information in that area. Toby and I belong to the club, I use the dining room for business lunches, and dad used to dock his boat here; but we don't really travel in the fast set. Which reminds me, I must tell Toby to make arrangements to have the boat brought North.”

“What about Raleigh at the bank?”

“One of the best loan officers I've ever seen. We're going to miss him terribly. The only, mistake I ever knew him to make was when he bought that shopping center for his own account. You know, he was almost made president after Dad retired. It was a close vote with the board until Dad used his influence and swung it to me.”

“He must have been very disappointed?”

“We gave him a hefty raise in salary to keep him. Toby says we made a good team, Raleigh making the money and me watching over it.”

“Do you think he killed his wife?”

“That's for Will Barnes to decide. But does it really make much difference anymore? I'll be right back.”

He slid from the stool, and with a minute stagger wound his way across the room toward a small door marked, G
OBS
.

The bartender leaned toward her in a conspiratorial manner. “The Beast.”

“I wouldn't talk like that about Mr. Strickland, Steve. He's a powerful man in town,” she replied with a tight smile.

“I couldn't help but overhear. Last summer Mrs. Bridger was involved with the Beast.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“I never did know his real name, but that's what everyone called him.”

“Someone from Lantern City?”

“I don't know where he came from, but I don't think it was from around here. He was ere wing one of the big boats at the marina. The owner must have been gone a lot, for he had a lot of spare time. There was some sort of hassle between him and Mauve Bridger, she complained to the owner of the boat and the Beast was canned. That was the last we saw of him.”

“What was the hassle about?”

“The whole thing never did come out, but we knew that the harbormaster got involved, and there was talk that the Beast made a big play for Mauve and she yelled. Bennie would know all about it?”